I only want a foreclosure!

How many times in this market have we heard this? Consumers ask yourself this question: Are you looking for a foreclosure or are you looking for a good deal? It appears everyone thinks of the word Foreclosure and assumes it is a good deal or THE ONLY DEAL in town. That is not necessarily the case. I ask my clients all the time do you want me to find you a foreclosed property or the best property that meets your qualifications of a "good deal?"

There are times when properties that are short sales or REO's are the best deal or situation for a client, but I personally have sellers that price there homes competitively and offer incentives that are on par with whomever the competition is. In some cases dealing with a traditional resale property gives a good value and a better conditioned property than the foreclosure. In some areas we are seeing brand new construction compete with the foreclosures and being much better deals than resales! It all depends on the clients need and/or qualification.

The moral of this story is both agent and consumer please keep your mind open to finding the best "deal" that fits you or your clients needs and do not become short sighted or have tunnel vision based upon one type of property.

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No matter what you are going through in life it is a temporary condition and it truly is a great life. God Bless

Hey I am glad to see someone was smart enough to mention it. I agree with you all the way. There are some great deals out there right now and most of them are not forclosures. Very good post you hit the nail on the head. Good work!

True story. Here in Michigan, foreclosures are often trashed by the disgruntled people who are losing the house. Therefore, if you're buying a foreclosure you'd better be prepared to do some work. Tomorrow I need to explain that to a young couple who think they want a foreclosure, but they've got two babies and they both work full time.

However, with the interest in foreclosures, I'm blogging for foreclosure buyers. I've brought in 4 of them in the past 2 weeks. We show them the bank foreclosures and anything in the right area and price range. We're selling bank foreclosures and if there isn't a good bank foreclosure for our buyers, we sell them the best home for their money.

With everything in our market priced above market value, sometimes the foreclosure IS the best house for the money.

What a timely post. I'm having this exact problem with a couple of prospective Buyers who keep telling me that they want "a deal"..."oh what about all those Foreclosures out there?", they keep asking and I keep explaning that many available Foreclosures in our area ARE NOT deals at all because they were purchased at the height of the market, etc. and that there are many non-Foreclosure listings that would fit their needs very well. It's like they think that all of a sudden homes are going to be literally given away. With some people, it's just that you can show them better than you can tell them since they're not listening and, eventually, when they see pricing reality, they will see the light, hopefully. Like you mentioned, tunnel vision isn't productive AT ALL.

I have a group of folks that buy FIXERS. Most of the time these same deals are also REO / Foreclosures.

Great post Elgin. There may be some REO's that are in decent shape, but you never know what you will find down the road. Termites, dryrot and stuff that just doesn't work. All after someone bought the home "AS-IS". Folks need to know what they are getting into.

So many think that the foreclosure is the best buy, but in Western Colorado wher inventory is very high, but values and prices are not dropping. The banks are taking their time and are doing their home work. They know how much it will cost to cure the damages and they are not backing off. The bottom line is does the buyer have the cash to fix the damage? Most wind up in a new construction home in this market

Elgin, Good POST!! In our market foreclosures are not necessarily a good deal. Some banks price good and some over price. It is really similar to a regular re-sale, some sellers price good and others over price.

Hi Elgin - as Marchel just said, the few foreclosures we have in my area aren't necessarily great deals. I think consumers just have it in their heads that foreclosure equals a steal of a price, when in reality, that's many times far from the case, at least up here.

The sellers I work with price their homes to be extremely competitive, and those aren't homes that who knows what has or hasn't been done to them, like some foreclosure properties.

When I have a buyer contact me saying they only want to know about foreclosures, I do my best to let them know about the realities of the market, but all the books, articles, late-night infomercials, etc. have convinced some of these folks that foreclosures are THE only way to go.

Elgin, I couldn't agree with you more. I hear this all the time, people telling me they only want to look at foreclosures, and I tell them yes we can look at foreclosures, but many times you can get a good deal on private owned homes in this market too.

IT's so funny, I get contacts from people all the time because they want a Foreclosure ....

So I show them a few dumpy pre-foreclosures or REO homes. These houses usually aren't a great deal, and they involve more risk because they're being sold as is! Everybody says they want a Foreclosure, but they want it to be clean, in great shape, and $50,000 below market value. There's just too many infomercials out there that claim you can buy foreclosure homes for pennies on the dollar. That just isn't reality, atleast not Homes in Utah.

You make a good point. I've been working with a client recently who started out wanting to look at foreclosures, because there was very little else that fit his needs in his price range. After looking for a month or so, he decided that he didn't want to put in all the time and money to fix one up, and we were able to find a home for sale for an investor that came rehabbed, with new appliances, and at a competitive price.

Elgin, I'm hearing that a lot as well. People think that foreclosures mean good deals. I go into detail about the difference in pre- and post- foreclosure. Usually the good deals are the AS IS properties which are usually in very bad shape.

As an REO Broker i can tell you that you are all correct, every REO has something wrong with it as does every short sale. When people run out of $$$ they simply stop or do very little to maintain their property. There seems to be less pride now than in the early 90's as these "New" homeowners put little or no $$ down, or is that they have not lived in the house long enough to have memories. Either way 90% of what i see needs 10k or more. Reo's are for high energy buyers that can handle more than a full plate.

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